Overview
- WhatsApp includes an in-app storage manager that identifies the largest photos, videos, audio files and documents so users can delete them without removing entire chats.
- To reach the tool users open Settings, go to Storage and Data, then tap Storage Management to see a summary of space used, largest files and the chats that hold the most media.
- Journalists and Meta note that disabling the Chats setting for media visibility prevents files from saving to the phone but does not change per-chat auto-download settings.
- Files deleted through WhatsApp do not go to a recycle bin inside the app and cannot be recovered there, so removal is permanent unless restored from an earlier cloud backup.
- WhatsApp is testing a green 'online' dot in beta that shows when a contact is connected, a change that has raised privacy concerns and has no confirmed release date from Meta.